This book offers a guide to some of the rarest birds in existence, with maps that show where to find them. Focusing on fifty captivating stories of the very rare, it describes remarkable discoveries of species not seen for centuries and brought back from the brink of extinction, successes like the Seychelles Magpie-Robin and the California Condor. The book is organized around key groups of species, with each species the subject of its own mini-chapter; we learn about the five most amazing tales of island endemics, the five most bizarre cases of a bird"s becoming threatened, and other astonishing tales of bird life. Atlas of Rare Birds is an accessible, readable, and visually appealing take on the serious subject of threatened birds and possible extinctions--a timely topic because of increasing concerns about climate change and habitat destruction. The atlas format--featuring 200 color photographs and 61 color maps--shows the global nature of the problem and brings together the many strands of the concerted bird conservation effort taking place on every continent. Atlas of Rare Birds is published in association with BirdLife International, the world"s largest global alliance of bird conservation organizations.